Red Dead Redemption 2

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the Intel Arc B580 produces a highly specific performance profile in Red Dead Redemption 2, one that is heavily dictated by the graphics preset and resolution selected. The measured data shows a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, but which can deliver playable frame rates when settings are tuned appropriately. The following analysis breaks down the measured results to determine the optimal configuration and what the numbers reveal about the hardware's role.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data offers four distinct preset options—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—across three resolutions. The optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution, but the data clearly indicates that Medium is the sweet spot for most users, providing a strong balance between visual fidelity and frame rate.

At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers an average of 67 FPS, which is a substantial 19.6% improvement over High (56 FPS) and 67.5% better than Ultra (40 FPS). While Low pushes to 90 FPS, the jump from Low to Medium costs only 23 frames (25.6% reduction), which is a reasonable trade for the visual uplift. The Ultra preset at 1080p is notably inefficient, dropping to 40 FPS—a 40.3% reduction from Medium—which makes it difficult to recommend for smooth gameplay.

Moving to 1440p, the pattern shifts. Medium still leads with 50 FPS, but High trails at 42 FPS, and Low reaches 67 FPS. The Medium preset here maintains a 19.0% advantage over High and a 66.7% advantage over Ultra. The gap between Medium and Low at this resolution is 34.0%, which is more significant, making Medium the clear recommendation for a stable 50 FPS experience.

At 4K, the situation becomes more challenging. Medium produces 33 FPS, which is technically playable but below the 60 FPS threshold. High drops to 28 FPS, and Low is the only preset that approaches playability at 44 FPS. The data indicates that 4K gaming with this combo requires Low settings to achieve a reasonable frame rate, as Medium and High fall to 33 and 28 FPS respectively.

The verdict is straightforward: for the best experience, select Medium at 1080p or 1440p. It offers the highest frame rate that maintains visual quality. At 4K, the user must accept Low settings for the best playable result. The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer across all resolutions, with 4K dropping to just 20 FPS, which is 39.4% lower than the Medium preset at the same resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable at 1080p with this CPU/GPU combo?

A: The highest average FPS at 1080p is 90 FPS, achieved with the Low preset. The Medium preset follows at 67 FPS, High at 56 FPS, and Ultra at 40 FPS.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 20, which is exactly half the 40 FPS achieved at 1080p Ultra. This represents a 50% reduction in frame rate when scaling up from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Is the combo more CPU-bound or GPU-bound in this game?

A: The data suggests a strong GPU limitation. The CPU has 12 cores and 24 threads with a high single-thread score, yet frame rates drop dramatically with resolution increases. From 1080p to 4K, the Medium preset falls from 67 FPS to 33 FPS—a 50.7% reduction—indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the measured data?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 28 FPS, observed at 4K Medium settings. The corresponding maximum at that setting is 38 FPS, showing a 10 FPS variance.

Q: How does the combo rank against all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 2195 out of 2902 tested combinations in Red Dead Redemption 2, placing it in the 75.6th percentile of all tested combos (lower rank is better).

Q: Does the Ultra preset ever outperform Medium at any resolution?

A: No. At every resolution—1080p, 1440p, and 4K—the Medium preset delivers a higher average FPS than Ultra. The difference is most pronounced at 4K, where Medium achieves 33 FPS versus Ultra's 20 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM5 platform. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a large 128 MB L3 cache. This is a high-end desktop CPU, reflected in its 91st percentile ranking against all CPUs. Its synthetic benchmark scores are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739, plus a Geekbench multi-core score of 22884.

In the context of Red Dead Redemption 2, the CPU's role appears to be that of a capable but not limiting component. The game's performance at lower resolutions (1080p Low yielding 90 FPS) suggests the CPU can feed the GPU adequately. However, the data does not show the CPU being taxed to its limits; instead, the frame rate drops are almost entirely attributable to resolution scaling, which points to GPU saturation.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the CPU's average benchmark score of 54762 is 0.6% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55093) and 1.3% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54053). This places it in a competitive band, but the game's results are less about raw CPU throughput and more about how the GPU handles the load. The 12-core configuration with 24 threads is more than sufficient for this title, which is a 2018 release and likely does not scale perfectly across all cores. The single-thread performance, indicated by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6739, is more relevant for game logic, and the data shows no evidence of a CPU bottleneck, as frame rates are consistent with GPU expectations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Intel Arc B580 achieves a rank of 2195 out of 2902 tested combos in Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the lower 24.4% of all tested combinations, meaning it outperforms roughly three-quarters of the other combos tested. This rank is primarily a function of the GPU, as the CPU is a high-end part that would not typically drag down performance.

The rank suggests that while this combo is not at the top tier for this game, it is far from the bottom. The 2902 combos tested include a wide variety of hardware, and a rank of 2195 indicates that the Arc B580's mid-range performance is the limiting factor. The GPU's average benchmark score is 23021, placing it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, which aligns with the combo's overall ranking. The CPU's high percentile (91st) does not boost the combo's rank because the game is not CPU-bound at the tested settings. The data shows that the frame rates are consistently below 60 FPS at 4K and at Ultra settings, which is consistent with a mid-range GPU paired with a high-end CPU.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear trend: as resolution increases, frame rates drop significantly, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. At Medium settings, the average FPS decreases from 67 at 1080p to 50 at 1440p (a 25.4% reduction), then to 33 at 4K (a 50.7% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-limited scenario, where the number of pixels rendered has a direct impact on performance.

The Low preset shows a similar but slightly less steep decline: 90 FPS at 1080p drops to 67 at 1440p (25.6% reduction) and then to 44 at 4K (51.1% reduction from 1080p). The High preset follows the same trend: 56 FPS at 1080p, 42 at 1440p (25.0% reduction), and 28 at 4K (50.0% reduction). The Ultra preset is the worst, with 40 FPS at 1080p dropping to 20 FPS at 4K, a 50% reduction.

The consistency of the ~50% reduction from 1080p to 4K across all presets is a strong indicator that the GPU is saturated. The CPU, with its high single-thread and multi-thread scores, is not the constraint; if it were, the frame rate would not drop so predictably with pixel count. The data shows that 4K resolution is not viable for smooth gameplay with this combo, as even the Low preset only reaches 44 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. The 1440p resolution offers the best balance, with Medium providing 50 FPS and Low reaching 67 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table summarizes the exact average FPS for each resolution and settings combination from the data:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 28 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 44 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 33 | 28 | 38 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 20 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | High | 42 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 67 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 50 | 43 | 58 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 30 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | High | 56 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 90 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 67 | 57 | 77 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 40 | - | - |

At 1080p, the spread is wide: Low delivers 90 FPS, Medium 67, High 56, and Ultra 40. The Medium preset has a recorded min of 57 FPS and max of 77 FPS, showing a 20 FPS variance. At 1440p, Low achieves 67 FPS, Medium 50 (min 43, max 58), High 42, and Ultra 30. At 4K, the numbers compress: Low 44, Medium 33 (min 28, max 38), High 28, and Ultra 20.

The data shows that the Medium preset at 1080p is the only configuration that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS on average, while the Low preset at 1080p and 1440p also breaks that barrier. All other configurations fall below 60 FPS, with 4K being the most challenging. The Ultra preset is consistently the worst performer, never exceeding 40 FPS at any resolution.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is based on the Xe2-HPG architecture and features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. It has a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, with 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The GPU's compute capability is rated at 13.67 TFLOPS for FP32. Its average benchmark score is 23021, placing it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU's role in this game is clearly the limiting factor. The measured FPS data shows that even at the lowest settings and resolution, the frame rate is capped at 90 FPS, which suggests the GPU is working at its maximum capacity. The 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for this title, as there is no indication of memory-related stuttering or performance drops. The boost clock of 2670 MHz is consistent, and the GPU's temperature and power characteristics are not reported, but the performance is consistent with its mid-range positioning.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Arc B580's average score is 0.2% below the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061) and 0.6% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895). This places it in a competitive bracket, but the game's results show that it struggles with high settings and 4K resolution. The GPU's 68th percentile ranking aligns with its performance in Red Dead Redemption 2, where it cannot maintain 60 FPS at 1440p High or 4K Low. The data indicates that the GPU is the bottleneck, and the CPU's high performance does not compensate for the GPU's limitations in this title.